Talk:Edward’s Escapade/@comment-4031764-20191105205638
Hey there! I'm here to leave the usual comments. First off, I liked the focus on Edward and how he's portrayed which is the classic wise and always useful engine we know and love. Honestly, I'm not so sure why he's hard to right for. Sometimes, I would prefer for an engine to be in the role of the wise mentor which has sometimes been fulfilled by the Fat Controller or Thomas in the TV series. Then, there's the common trope of him, proving himself to the others. But thinking about it - this is a very strong moral. Edward's Exploit really shows that even when things are bad - never, never give up. That's one of the strongest morals any TV show or book series could ever over especially 'cause it's very applicable in real life. I say all this 'cause there seems to be these ideas going around that Edward is bland, one-dimensonal, perfect to the point where no stories can be written about him. This episodes makes it clear there is plenty of story opportunity for Edward. You just have to know when to write him in. As much as I like the HiT/Arc era, they didn't really use Edward in that mentor role till starting in The Adventure Begins. I just wish they had used it more often. So, I really like your use of Edward in this story and I'm glad he does stand up for himself. Personally, I've always thought that Edward knows the others make fun of him but doesn't let it get to him. To quote from Saved from Scrap, "People say I'm old-fashioned, but I don't care. The Fat Controller says I'm a Useful Engine." He knows others doubt him but why should it worry him? Of course, this does lead to potential where at some point, he may not hold it in and rightfully scold those who are criticising him as he did in this episode. Next, there's the others defending him which I see as Edward has friends that defend him. Philip is in the role here. Thomas and Percy have also done it but seeing Thomas and Edward's relationship in TAB pretty much explains why Thomas is willing to stick for him. The others don't stick up to him for no reason. They do it because they know what Edward is capable of and know that he would do the same for them. Moving on though, it was also great to see Edward in action. Something like Old Iron, where Edward physically has to catch up with someone. In this case, he just had a bit of self-doubt but both showcase an amazing amount of perserverance and effort. Another thing is I like the moments between Edward and Philip. Now, if we'd had these type of interactions between the two, I wouldn't still be questioning why the heck Edward chose to leave Tidmouth. "It's closer to his branch line!" says the voice from behind. Yes, but I'd rather live with my friends twenty minutes away from work than with someone I just met and may like but I'd want to get to know then more even though its a couple metres from work. Its a win and lose situation respectively. I also liked the use of Trevor which works well since he's on Edward's Branch Line and Winston's lines were a lot of fun too. The thieves themselves were also interesting. Definitely the guys you love the hate and I liked how the chase played out. Very well paced. Then there's Gordon and Spencer with their usual criticism of Edward but I liked how Gordon did feel a bit sorry towards the end. Well, I should apologise for clogging up this review with a bunch of extra stuff but I suppose sometimes you have to know what's wrong in order to make it right. Plus, it shows how well you did with all the characters in this episode. In this case, any nonsense, rubbish that Edward is bland/hard to write for in tossed straight into the dust bin. Man do I miss Edward. Will he re-surface for the 75th? Who knows? I'm surprised we're even having a show next year. Still, I hope I provided suficient feedback/analysis. I wish I could do this in-depth analysis of stuff in English courses and other books/articles. But anyways, great job with this episode and I'd give it more than ten but that might crash my computer! My score system just loops back to ten if try to go over it so 10/10 for you! Take care and I'll see you around.